Austria won’t accept Afghan asylum seekers and will instead focus on assisting them locally, Chancellor Sebastian Kurz said, according to excerpts of an interview published by broadcaster Puls 24.
The ruling People’s Party has taken a hard line on immigration amid international calls to help Afghans at risk of persecution after the US troop withdrawal. Kurz said Austria had already made a disproportionately high contribution, with more than 40,000 Afghans accepted in the past. The nation’s responsibility lies with helping improving security and women’s rights locally, he said.
Switzerland’s government is examining the possibility of hosting a summit on Afghanistan on Swiss soil. The government is evaluating its contribution to solving the crisis, and possibilities include a donor conference to negotiate humanitarian aid, creating a humanitarian corridor out of Afghanistan, or hosting diplomatic talks between the Taliban and Afghanistan’s former government, a local paper reported.
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